Here we are—one guy, three girls—taking the plunge and living in Costa Rica for a few years. Stay tuned as we share our adventures, joys, frustrations, and mishaps (certainly we'll encounter a few!) as we navigate our way through a beautiful country in Central America.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Irazú: part two

Last Saturday the sky was so clear we could see for miles—no better opportunity for a day trip, so we grabbed cold-weather gear (Costa Rica style, of course) and trekked across the valley to Irazú Volcano.

Erin and I visited Irazú in October ’07, but Dan and Lauren had yet to visit. You can read more about the volcano and the route we took to get there on my previous blog, Irazú, I see you!

We drove to the very summit of Irazú and it was incredibly windy. I’ll admit it, we were cold! (What are we going to do next winter?) Dan commented that I really “gringoed out” for the day by wearing my Wisconsin sweatshirt, but it is my heaviest pullover with a hood and I don’t regret the choice. Funny though how a clothing decision made me feel like more of a tourist than a resident, and a woman (originally from Milwaukee, I learned) even approached me and asked if we’re on vacation here from up north.

We took some photos at the summit before hiking around the lower part of the park near the craters. Erin and I were interested to note a lake on the flat, sandy area where before it had been only spongy ground and appeared much more lunar.

The four of us were so windblown by the time we returned to the parking lot we were happy to sit in the café with our cups of steaming hot chocolate and a bag of Volcán chips supposedly made from potatoes grown on the side of the mountain (not unlikely since we passed many working potato and onion farms on the long drive up to the park).

Of course by the time we’d descended the mountain the sun was warming us through the car’s windshield, and when we arrived home we opened all the house windows to enjoy the moderate temperature of Santa Ana.